Electric switch for door jambs



y 29, 1952 H. w. BATCHELLER 2,605,374

ELECTRIC SWITCH FOR DOOR JAMES Filed Aug. 31, 1949 I INVENTOR HUGH W. BATCHELLER ATT'YS Patented July 29, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE/0.;

ELECTRIC DOOR JAMBS I Hugh w. Batcheller, Newton Highlands, Mass.

Application August .31, 1949, Serial No. 113,433

provide illumination within the automobile au-' tomaticallywhenever one of its doorsls opened, the closing of the door resulting in the extinguishing of the light. Switches for this and similar purposes have been in use for many years. The object of'the present invention isto provide a switch the parts of which are so designed as to be-made and assembled easily and cheaply, the switch itself being adapted to be quickly and permanently mounted in a door jamb.

For this purpose, most of themetal parts of the switch structure are sheet metal stampings which can be readily assembledwith a block, disk and ring of insulating material. The'assembled parts of the switch are secured together by two simple crimping operations.

The completed switch isadapted to be mounted on a door jamb, being thrust into a preformed hole in the jamb which receives the switch housing, spring means being provided to retain the switch permanently in place. For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description thereof, and to the drawing, of which Figure 1 is an exploded view of a switch structureembodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the assembled switch, partly broken away to show in section;

Figure 3 i a section on the line 33 o Figure 2 I I Figure 4 is a side elevation of the switch with the bottom pushed part way in, a portion being broken away to show in section; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a block of insulation which is a part of the structure shown in the other figures.

The switch illustrated in the drawing comprises a base block of insulation such as a suitable molded plastic. This block is generally cylindrical in shape with two wide longitudinal ribs [2 and I4. Shortly below its top face, the block is reduced slightly in diameter to form a narrow circumferential shoulder l6 which is interrupted by the ribs l2 and I4. Two parallel longitudinal bores l8 and 20 extend through the block and are suitably spaced apart. Between these bores are a pair of rectangular holes 22 and 24 each of which extends longitudinally into the block from 1 Claim. Cl. ZOO- 159) the tbpface thereof and terminatesnear'the bottom of the block. For convenience in describ-= ing the switch in the specification and claims, it will be thought of in a vertical position as shown "in Figure '2, the 'base block being at the bottom and the plunger at the top. Each of the rectangular holes 22 and 24 opens laterally into one of the bores l8 and 20 'so that the cross-sectional areas of a bore-and its corresponding hole on a common plane are a circleand a rectangle which overlap slightly, that is, have a common area in the form of a segment of the circle. The rectangular holes 22 and 24 are parallel and between them is a tongue 26 which projects up Overlying the block I0 is a disk or plate 30 of insulating material .such as vulcanized fibre. The disk is shaped to fit upon the top of the'block and upper ends of the ribs l2 and I4 and is provided with a central. rectangular aperture through which extend two conductors 32 and 34 which are strips of a suitable resilient metal or alloy such as bronze. These conductors ex tend downward in the rectangular holes 22 and 24 respectively, andthe lower ends of the conductors. are at the bottoms of. these holes: as indic'ated in Figure 2. The lowermost portion or each of these conductors is reversely bent as at so that a surface thereof projects slightly-into the adjacent bore. Thus when a suitably shaped plug 38 on the end of .axcircuit Wire is thrust into one of the bores l8 or 20, it engages the'r'everse- 1y bent lower portion of corresponding conductor and makes a good electrical contact therewith. The conductor also serves to'holdzthe plug yieldingly in its inserted position as shown in Figure 2. In assembling the switch, the conductors 32 and 34 are first assembled with the block it and disk 30, the central aperture in the washer being just wide enough to receive the tongue 26 and the conductors 32 and 34. These members are thus firmly held together in an assembled relation by the disk 30. The portions of the conductors 32 and 34 which project above the In. The shell 50 has notches 52 and 54 extending up from its bottom edge to straddle the ribs l2 and I4. The bottom edge portions of the shell between the notches 52 and 54 are spun over the shoulders 16 of the block In to secure the shell to the block. The shell at its upper end is provided with an outwardly projecting flange 56 for a purpose hereinafter explained.

Within the shell 50 is a helical spring 66 which surrounds the conductors 32 and 34 but is spaced therefrom so as not to touch them. Bearing against the upper end of the spring 60 is an annular washer 62 of insulation. Mounted within this annular washer is a metal ring 64 which serves as a bridging conductor by simultaneous contact with the conductors 32 and 34. The lower por-' tion of the metal ring 64 is flared as at 66 to facilitate assembling with other members of the switch.

The washer 62 bears against a shoulder 68 of a hollow cylindrical plunger which is closed at the top and has a lower portion 72 of increased diameter.

In assembling the switch, the conductors 32 and 34 are passed through the aperture in the plate 30 and their lower ends are thrust into the holes 22 and 24, as hereinbefore described. The fastening member is set on the base block and the shell 50 pushed down on the block and its lower edge is spun over the shoulder 16. The spring 60 is inserted in the shell and is surmounted by the washer 62 and plunger 10. An annular face plate 14 is then slipped over the plunger and pressed down against the flange 56. While in this position its outer margin is spun or curled around the edge of the flange 56, thus securing the face plate in its position on the upper end of the shell. The inner diameter of the face plate 14 is less than the inner diameter of shell 50 so that the inner margin projects over the shoulder 68 and thus prevents the plunger 10 from moving completely out of the shell 50. The shell 56, the base block it) and the face plate 14 form a housing to enclose and protect the switch ele' ments 32, 34 and 64.

The arms 44 and 46 of the spring fastening member 42 extend upward and diverge slightly from the surface of the shell 56 until they nearly reach the flange 56. The upper portions of these arms then bend inward as at 16 and 78 so that the upper extremities of the arms are beneath the rim 56 and near thereto. Thus when the switch is to be installed in a door jamb 86, the wire connections are first made by fishing out the terminals or plugs 38 through a preformed hole 82 in the door jamb. When the plugs have been thrust into the bores I8 and 20, the switch is 4 pushed into the hole 82 until the curled margin of the ring 14 abuts the door jamb and prevents further inward progress. As the switch is pushed into the hole, the diverging arms 44 and 46 are sprung toward each other as they ride on opposite portions of the edge of the hole. When the switch is pushed home, the inwardly sloping portion 16 of the arms bear against the edges of the hole and thus serve to hold the switch firmly in place without looseness. In order to prevent the switch from coming out of the hole, small locking tongues 84 may be struck up from the arms 44 and 46 to engage behind the wall of the door jamb 80. These tongues each present a surface toward the face plate 14 which is parallel to the face plate and therefore is parallel to the plane of the door jamb when the switch is installed as indicated in Figure 4. These tongues thus serve to lock the switch against removal from the hole until the arms 44 and 46 are pressed toward each other by an external force sufiicient to enable the tongues 64 to clear the margins of the door jamb around the hole.

I claim:

In an electric switch of the plunger type, a base block of insulation having two spaced bores therethrough and two rectangular holes between said bores extending down into said block from the top thereof and opening laterally into respective bores, said block having a tongue projecting up from the top thereof between said holes, two sides of said tongue being continuations of wall faces of said holes, a metal strip projecting up from each said hole, each said strip having a lower portion projecting slightly into the adjacent bore, an insulating disk upon the top face of the block, said disk having a central rectangular aperture having a width substantially equal to'the combined thicknesses of said tongue and strips, a metal ring surrounding the upper portions of said strips, and means for moving said ring into and out of simultaneous contact with said strips.

HUGH W. BATCHELLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,686,506 Anthony Oct. 9, 1928 1,998,990 Hasselbaum Apr. 23, 1935 2,113,535 Cuno et al Apr. 5, 1938 2,223,673 Catron et a1. Dec. 3, 1940 2,259,304 Foster Oct. 14, 1941 2,458,097 Penfold Jan. 4, 1949 

